Somewhere I Belong
by r2roswell
Summary: Follow a group of college students from the south as they meet up with friends from the west only to find that there destiny lies to the east. Will they choose Charleston, SC which is said to be a utopia of abundance or will they chose the nomadic 2nd Mass. of Boston?
1. prologue Ray's Voice

**Title:** Somewhere I Belong

**Summary:** A group of militia kids from the south meet up with friends in the west but fate has a different place for them all together. Will they choose Charleston, SC where it is said to be a utopia of abundance or will they chose somthing more nomadic with the 2nd Mass. in Boston?

**Author's Note:** My choosing of the south and west areas were radom. I wanted to focus on places that I had not seen done in fanfics before.

*You should also know that this story flips back and forth from a 1st person narrative/point of view to that of 3rd person. The 1st person p.o.v. is in italics and is basically a voice over, now whether those voice over's are journal entries or the character is talking to someone, that's up for you to choose.*

* * *

**Prologue. Ray's Voice**

* * *

_I'd never amounted to much in my life. In 23 years of life I was pretty average and that's all I was. I played sports when I was younger but I wasn't great unless you could count a powerful kick by the time I was 8 to sinking a soccer ball in a basketball hoop after punting it just for fun during recess. _

_I sucked at school with my only high marks, mostly B's, in English and History, my GPA only amounting to a useless 2.1 because the math's and sciences were what weighed me down. _

_I was human and not very good at it._

_To say that the day 'they' came was the best day of my life could be an understatement though I had plenty of moments in my life prior to their arrival that I could count as perfect. _

_But the day 'they' came it changed everything._

_It changed me._


	2. Chapter 1 Six Months Ago

**Ch. 1) 6 Months Ago**

Different groups of college students convened at the student union in the middle of nowhere town of Alpine, Texas at 6 PM for the normal dinner round up.

Ray Cortes, twenty-three, sat at the table with her two best friends Marie Cordova and Carmen Villas, friends since their freshman year of high school and nearly inseparable. The two of them, Monica and Carmen were laughing about mundane stuff and as she had always done before Ray smiled at her group but not feeling as if she were there in the moment.

* * *

_I always hated moments like these. Moments of feeling like I was away from myself. I could see my body from the outside kind of like the way an airplane pilot could see a civilian on the ground. That's what those disassociation moments felt like- above myself but not really there in the moment._

* * *

It was a constant linger, the feeling of disassociating while her body was there. Having been diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder at 19, Ray had been in counseling and on medication through the past few years. This year though she was determined to handle life without both.

It was winter in Alpine with the day temperatures only in the 50's, sometimes in the high forties. Today's temperature was 47 degrees Fahrenheit and getting colder as the evening wore on. The shaking is what brought Ray back to reality. Tables starting moving, dishware from the kitchen could be heard falling to the floor and shattering.

"What the hell," said Marie.

The whole student union began filing out of the ten double doors.

Marie and Carmen began to get up too but Ray took their arms.

"No don't! You guys want to get trampled over? You've seen the movies and the news. People panic and people get hurt. Stay, please."

Carmen and Marie noticed the fear on their friends face. It was the same fear that registered on their faces. They both watched as people filed out, some climbing over one another to escape but they stayed put.

No one was left inside but the trio.

The area continued to shake. The girls each pulled out their cell phones.

"Nothing," said Ray being the first even though she hardly used her cell.

"Me neither," replied Carmen.

Marie shook her head to signal 'no'.

Overhead all of the lights went out. They grabbed their jackets and backpacks. Ray always carried hers with her even when she didn't have class. It was a safety blanket sort of thing. Carmen and Marie had both had a class at 6 PM which is why they carried theirs. They ran to the windows as they began to hear people screaming. The cloudy overcast night only served to make things worse. Cell phones were not working so people could not use the lights from them to shine their way.

More screams and then rumbling noises. And then voices over voices.

"We're being attacked!"

"Not another 9/11!"

"God help us, somebody!"

"We're being invaded!"

"Run!"

"Get the hell out of her, go, go, go!"

Tears began to stream down Ray's face as she heard the pain and then the sound of school buildings toppling over.

"I have to get out of here," Ray said starting to get into full panic mode as she began heading toward the door.

"No!" Marie said stopping her friend.

"I have to go, I want my mom!"

* * *

_Flashbacks of a moment in high school came into mind. School was on lockdown because of an alleged student with a gun. I went into panic mode. My Star Wars book could not take away my anxiety. The teacher gave me a bag to help my breathing. Turned out the whole thing was just a stupid joke by some stupid kid. _

* * *

Carmen helped to subdue Ray. The two girls were now on top of their friend with their friend flatly on her back on the tile.

"We're safe here," said Carmen.

"There is no safe anymore," Ray replied. "I just want to go home. I want my mom."

"I know," replied Marie.

She not only wanted her family too but she wanted her fiancé, Xavier Gutierrez. He was supposed to have met Marie and her friends for dinner but he never showed. There had been no text so Marie just thought he was running late.

She could focus on her pain later. Right now there were two other people who depended on her.

"I'm gonna get up," said Marie. "Now promise me you're not gonna bolt."

"Okay," replied Ray.

"Say it. Say 'I promise'."

Ray took a deep breath to clear her sob. "I promise."

Marie got up followed by Carmen. The three girls held on tightly to each other. They didn't need to see with lights to know where they were going. They had been at this school for four years that they practically knew their way around.

They made their way to a large level on the staircase so they could all sit and lean their backs.

Outside people were still screaming and then more madness ensued. Bright blue lights circled from above. It looked like bombs were going off as things were dropped from the skies and exploding on impact.

Blue bullets scattered across the campus hitting anything and anyone. People screamed, their screams getting louder.

The girls held on tighter to one another.

"I don't want to die," Carmen finally confessed. The elephant in this room from the madness outside.

The girls remained silent from then on letting the chaos continue outside while silently praying in what safe haven the student union provided for however short a time.


	3. Chapter 2 Morning After

**Ch. 2) The Morning After**

* * *

_I was the first to awake, always the early riser at 5 AM. I looked at my watch, for once glad it wasn't digital. My digital watch had died two days before so she was stuck with a regular battery one and after power was lost yesterday and cell phones stopped working I was sure that power had not been restored. The clock read 7:03 AM. The day light from outside was starting to seep from the windows which is what had caused me to arise._

* * *

Ray looked at her friends and shook them awake. Carmen stirred not wanting to wake up early.

"You guys wake up," Ray said.

"Five more minutes," replied Carmen.

"No now," Ray replied. "Remember where we are?"

Carmen and Marie got up simultaneously.

Marie touched herself over. "Thank god, we're alive. Thank god, thank god, thank god."

"Come on," said Ray. "Let's get out of here."

Carmen and Marie looked at Ray.

"Okay what happened to Ray," Marie asked. "Was she body snatched or something?"

"What are you talking about," Ray asked.

"You had a panic attack last night remember," said Carmen.

"That was last night," replied Ray. "And to be honest I really just want to get the hell out of here. It's giving me the creeps."

The three got up and put their jackets on. Not even stepping outside they stopped short of the double doors. It was cloudy but daylight was rising and they could see all the destruction from the outside. The whole campus had been leveled with bricks, stone and concrete all in one giant mess.

To their right lie a whole row that were once different classrooms and buildings, the library a few feet further. You couldn't tell that's what they were if it weren't for their locations.

As they got closer to some areas they could see blood on gray concrete and bodies in weird angles. Having had some medical training in the past they checked for pulses.

"They're dead," Marie stated.

"Hello," Carmen called out. "Anyone out there?"

They waited. Nothing but the wind whisking around them.

Ray got up from her crouched position over a young female student. She had moved the student over to see the extent of her injuries when she saw it, a foot print that looked like a dinosaur track. It hadn't been here preserved in the concrete it was fresh. Telling by the gashes Ray knew that whatever creature had made the mark had been the one to kill the girl.

She began walking toward the south to one of the administration buildings which was only a few feet away.

"Where are you going," Carmen asked.

"I want to check something," Ray replied.

Ray began clearing some rocks and she found what she had hoped for, the entrance way to the administration building. The door jammed but she was able to get it open. She reached for her flashlight, one of the many things she liked to have on hand in emergency situations.

The basement floor had been salvaged. It had only been the top floors that got the worst hit. Ray made her way down the hall to the security area.

"Ray what are you doing," Marie asked.

Ignoring the office desks Ray made her way to the back where she found the armory. It was a cage and within that cage were several others that kept everything from hunting weapons to the 9MM weapons that cops carried.

Ray searched a few desks until finally finding a spare key which was taped under the desk. Humans could be so predictable.

"Jackpot," Ray said smiling in the first time since the destruction

She unlocked the gate and made her way inside. She put down her own backpack and grabbed a military assault hiking backpack that was on the bottom shelf that the university cops often used for their trainings.

She began loading some of her stuff into the new one and then got up and walked over to grab all the first aide materials in the two first aide cabinets that were in the office. She then began focusing on the guns.

"No way," said Carmen. "You can't do this!"

"Have you seen the world outside," Ray replied. "Better we have this stuff than someone else and it's unlikely that anyone else is around at this point."

"You've never even fired a gun," replied Marie.

After getting all of the cages unlocked she began pulling out the hunting rifles that were owned by some local students and then she went for the larger stuff, semi-automatic rifles and shot guns. Though she had no idea how to use them she had seen plenty of television, both the real stuff and fictional to know how to at least load them and put the safeties on.

With the rifles squared away, Ray took off her backpack and slung a rifle over her back. She then placed some extra rounds of ammunition in her backpack.

"Don't just stand there," Ray said. "Are you gonna help?"

Marie looked to Carmen. She didn't like this anymore than the other. Marie walked over and began getting a military pack as well and traded some of her stuff into it.

"You don't think we'll need our school books do you," she joked.

Ray laughed. "I'm pretty sure you can leave those behind," she said as she made her way to the smaller arms, 9MM and 40 calibers mostly. She placed two in her jacket, safeties on, two clipped to her belt. More ammunition stored.

"I can't," said Carmen.

"Carmen," said Ray. "Start grabbing some guns and start loading."

"No. Ray this is crazy."

"No shit, this whole thing is crazy but we're gonna have to go back out there. Do you want to be defenseless?"

Marie motioned to Carmen. "Come on girl."

"Look," said Ray. "Whatever killed those people out there I'm sure wont' have a problem killing you if it gets the chance. At least this way you can fight back."

Marie looked sympathetically at her friend. "Seriously, better safe than sorry."

Carmen said nothing but moved forward, grabbing a third bag and placing in things she needed from her old one. Marie helped her with the weapons.

"Let's just get this job done," said Ray. "We still have more work to do."

Both her friends looked at her. "What work?"

Ray bowed her head.

* * *

_I had seen many doomsday movies. I knew how these things worked. Worse though I had been a bonafide conspiracy theorist when it came to aliens. I had been since I was 8 when I stumbled across an internet article on the Roswell Incident of 1947. From there I did research on every Roswell book I could get my hands on and from there and it escalated to other cases over the years so in a way I had always known what to expect either from this world or the worlds from elsewhere. _

* * *

"Let's just get out of here," Ray said. Picking up a second rifle and walked towards the door.

She looked back at her friends. "Grab what you can carry, have enough ammo but make sure your pack isn't too heavy. We need the space."

"So what now, fearless leader?" Carmen asked jokingly.

"I'm not a leader, I'm just trying to survive," said Ray. "Let's head back to the student union. It's the only place in this damn town that doesn't seem to have gotten hit. Maybe we can scrounge up some food."

The girls followed Ray. Truth was they had no clue as to what to do anymore than Ray did. The cafeteria had more than enough to meet their needs. They raided the back for some containers to place dry foods such as cereals and then grabbed some non-perishable items of canned goods.

"Do you think anyone else is alive," Carmen asked.

"I hope so," Marie replied. "This is just too eerie."

"What the hell is even going on," Carmen asked. "Why would a terrorist attack the middle of nowhere?"

"Maybe they're just attacking all parts of the country to make it vulnerable," Marie replied.

"Okay that's enough," said Ray. "Food I mean. Our packs are gonna be heavy as it is and we still need a few more things."

"And what the hell is up with GI Jane over here," Marie asked.

"Right," replied Carmen. "Seriously Ray, what's going on? What happened to the shy, depressed girl we've always known? You're not acting like yourself."

* * *

_Carmen was right. I wasn't acting like myself. There was no fooling them or even me. I had known the second we were attacked that the old me was dead and like the corpses outside she wasn't coming back._

* * *

Ray sighed, "The world has changed. I don't know maybe so have we."

Carmen and Marie couldn't deny that fact. The world looked like a war zone outside.

"What do you need us to do," Carmen asked.

Ray picked up her gear. "Let's head toward the dorms and apartments. Maybe we can find some extra clothing and blankets. It's roughly 35 degrees outside so we're going to need that stuff."

"What about the bodies," Marie asked. "I'm mean we can't just leave them."

"Take what you think you can use. A pair of boots, clothing, pocket knives, that sort of thing"

"Take from the dead," Carmen said getting nervous.

"We're on our own here," said Ray as she reached down to take off a jacket from a dead guy. She tore the jacket to pieces so that she could make a face mask.

"We have to survive any way we can," she said tossing some pieces of fabric to her friends so they could do the same. "If it makes you feel better call out for survivors."

* * *

_We made our way for the apartments and dorm complexes. Like everything else they were demolished to the point beyond recognition. Cars were tossed over like a toppled tower of cards: every direction and flipped up on any side._

* * *

Materials were scattered from office supplies to broken televisions. Bodies were distributed unevenly among the rubble like rag dolls. The smell of death was everywhere to human waste where people had soiled themselves to blood and in some cases intestines and other body parts showing.

Home comfort dorm and apartment items were too mangled to make sense of what they were, torn or simply scattered like everything else. Roughly 350 apartments and dorms all broken into one elongated mess.

"So what exactly are we looking for again," Carmen asked as she looked at an area at what used to be one of the parking lots.

"Some clothing and something to keep warm like blankets or quilts. With so many rooms there's bound to be a few things scattered about," replied Ray.

Materials were quite easy to find.

Marie searched a stiff and when she turned it over she screamed. Ray and Carmen dropped what they were doing. They took a deep breath when they saw who it was.

"You can't be dead," Marie cried. "You can't be dead," she said to her fiancé Xavier Gutierrez.

But he was. There was a gunshot wound to his right arm and his chest had been sliced open with what seemed to be several blades.

"How the… how the hell does this happen?" Marie said in both sadness and confusion and anger. "Who would do this? What kind of… what kind of terrorist would go around murdering and mutilate innocent people?"

Carmen sighed. "Do you really want the answer?"

Ray moved a few feet away from Xavier and began removing some sidewalk stones. Underneath them in the sand were several impressions, one like the dinosaur track she had seen earlier and another one, this one wider and smaller.

"It's not terrorists," Ray said speaking up.

"What do you mean it's not terrorists," Carmen asked. "How would you know?"

"Take a look at these tracks, I saw them earlier. Do they look human to you?"

The girls looked on.

"It could've just been an animal," replied Marie trying to make sense.

"Yeah like what? The last time I checked Alpine didn't have dinosaurs running around campus."

"What are you saying," Carmen asked.

"You can't be suggesting what I think you are," replied Marie.

Ray said the thought that she knew Marie had caught on to.

"Whatever it was that attacked this place last night and took only an hour or longer to do wasn't human."

Carmen started laughing. "You can't be serious?"

"Of course she's serious," said Marie defending Ray though not quite believing it herself. "This is Ray we're talking to."

"It just doesn't make sense. This stuff doesn't exist," said Carmen trying to think of something else.

"At this point," replied Ray, "It's the only thing that makes sense," she said getting up from her position and picking up her gear.

"So what's the plan now Ray?" Carmen asked trying to find an escape from the alien angle they had just talked about.

Ray pulled out her compass, another thing which she always carried in her school backpack. "We'll finish up here and then head west then make our way north. We've got family in Colorado so it might be best to check on them, see if anyone's alive."

"Do think they are?" Marie asked.

"I don't know, maybe. I mean we made it right?" she said slightly smiling at her friends.

"How are we going to get there?" asked Carmen.

"Walk I suppose," replied Ray.

"You're kidding me," said Carmen thinking the whole thing was ridiculous.

"Nope. Until we know what we're dealing with we don't want to use cars just yet. I know it's just stupid readings but a lot of books usually say that in the case they're not friendly then they want either resources or our inhalation, in this case probably both. Cars run on fuel and I'm sure to even life elsewhere that's a big commodity."

"So we bow down, just like that?"

"We're not bowing down. We're staying alive."

After gathering needed materials the girls picked up their packs and rifles and headed north down the old road that led to the highway.

* * *

_We could see for miles on end. It wasn't the school that had come to a collapse it was the whole damn town. A town of 6,000 people had been eliminated to only three. I can't tell you why we survived. I imagined that during the night raid people had gone into other structures to seek shelter, thinking they'd be safe. Can't tell you why our building was the one left standing. Location had nothing to do with it, God had nothing to do with it, fate had nothing to do with it. All I can make it come down to is some sick and twisted way of luck either that or some sick sense of cosmic humor. Maybe the people that died were the lucky ones. I don't know._

_At this point it was now all about survival and Colorado._


	4. Chapter 3 One Night

**3.) One Night**

* * *

_It was a treacherous journey both on a personal level and a physical one to leave Texas and make our way north to Colorado. The world was not what we once knew. _

_We had encountered stabilizers and cyborgs on several occasions. __We started calling them stabilizers because their legs reminded me of the stabilizers you crank down on travel trailers or like the ones you would always see coming down from spaceships in old 1950s movies. Terming them cyborgs was a given._

_In five and a half days we got to Ft. Bliss. It was completely eradicated. We checked the ammo stations and were able to grab a few things but not much. It seemed either the survival rate was better here or people just passing through._

_We stayed in one of the barracks for the night. _

* * *

"This place didn't have a chance did it," Marie asked.

Though the girls had seen plenty of carnage on their travels to see Ft. Bliss in ruins was just too much to handle.

"None of the military did," Ray replied. "Their firepower is a lot more superior to ours. Not even the military could stop them. "All right, let's just find the area where they keep the ammunition, some food, and then we'll stay in the barracks for the night. At least those didn't demolish like the rest of this place."

It took several hours to look around the base. They were able to come out with some successful items. After their scavenging they made their way to the bunk houses.

Though some of the doors had been busted the girls managed to find a few barracks that had stayed intact.

Ray closed the door behind them and looked around the room. Carmen was the most excited of the trio, going from the small kitchen/living room to the bathroom and then opening two doors that led to bedrooms.

"Real beds," said Carmen. "Never thought I'd be this happy to see one of those."

"Come on," Ray said placing her pack and guns off to the side. "Let's place some tables in front of the door and then we'll settle in for the night. Marie, help me with one of the dressers from the bedroom."

Marie did as her friend asked. The girls then moved from room to room and struggled to bring the beds in the living area kitchen. It made the room smaller but it was better this way. Since the night of the raid none of the girls had been alone. Their scavenging had always been together and when they were attacked by stabilizers they always had each other's backs. Tonight was no different.

They ate a little food, most which was still fresh that had been left in the kitchen cabinets of the barrack.

Ray leaned against a wall while her friends occupied the two beds. She pulled out her journal.

"What are you always writing in there?" Marie asked.

Ray shrugged. "A little bit of everything I guess: Successful raids. Failed ones. Encounters with cyborgs and stabs. How many miles we travel, things like that."

"What's the point," said Carmen. "Every day is pretty much the same."

"Maybe," replied Ray, "but it's a new world. Someone has to write down their history. I mean that's what people of the past have done."

Carmen and Marie looked at each other and smiled.

They had known Ray for years and knew she was a writer; it hadn't been until the time she found the leather bound journal at a demolished bookstore in Alpine and gathered several that they had actually seen her write and see how important it was. A connection to their past and something Ray wasn't letting go of.

Carmen looked at Ray. "Do you think there are others out there doing the same thing? Writing down their experiences I mean."

Ray stopped writing and looked up at her friends. "I hope so. History is filled with literally millions of stories. Everything from the Aztec empire to the Egyptians- oceans apart and yet their histories and even their structures are so similar to one another. With that in mind I can only imagine that the same could be said for us compared to anyone else in this world even if miles or oceans may separate us."

Carmen and Marie stayed silent, contemplating what Ray had just told them.

"Why don't you guys get some sleep," Ray said focusing back on her writing but pulling her rifle closer to her. "I'll take the first shift and then we can switch at the halfway mark like we always do."

"Night Ray," said Marie.

"Night Ray," said Carmen. She smiled as she closed her eyes. "Hello comfy bed."


	5. Chapter 4 Arrival in Colorado

**4.) Arrival in Colorado**

* * *

_It took us sixteen days to reach our destination, Colorado Springs. Sixteen days that felt so much longer._

_It was hell on my friends. It was hell on me. Marie and Carmen weren't the outdoors type, they didn't hike. I had some hiking experience but not enough. We covered thirty six miles a day. Something that was hard on all of us but I was determined. Had we gone at half that it would've taken us another added sixteen days to get there. Time was a luxury we couldn't afford._

* * *

"They're gone, they're all gone," said Carmen as the girls looked at the destroyed area.

"That still surprises you?" asked Marie.

"Of course it does. We haven't come across a single soul in over what, two weeks and the ones we have seen have been bound."

"Alien invasion 101," said Ray. "Eliminate the armed forces so that there's less of a chance of attack and retaliation part on the humans. Then when those are neutralized aim for the civilians who can't defend themselves, you take them out in masses so that all that's left are a few scavengers who can't amount to anything."

Carmen looked over. "I hate that you know that."

"I hate that you're always right all the time," Marie replied.

Carmen looked at Marie and nodded.

The girls soon quit talking and began to go in the direction of Ray's home. It was closest to their current location and considering that Carmen and Marie had stayed with her, Ray promised that they would not leave Colorado without checking on her friends' families. She owed them that much.

As they reached Ray's block it was odd to see several structures standing. A lot of the areas they came in contact with had been turned to rubble; nothing but debris and grains of cement and sand. Only one entire block was left standing, both the right and left sides. Everything else around it was destroyed.

There was a 7/11 about ten yards from Ray's block. The gas pumps had long been removed and it only served as a corner store.

"Carmen," said Ray. "Stand guard. Marie, you're with me. Take the back entrance I'll take the front."

"Got it chief," Marie replied.

"Are you ever gonna stop calling me that?"

"I'll stop when you stop leading boss."

"I'm not the leader or the boss how many times do I have to say it?"

The girls ignored Ray and instead readied their weapons. Ray took point and made her way inside through the broken doors. So many shelves had all ready been raided so Ray took to the back room.

"Marie what's taking so long?"

Marie entered but someone was behind her with a gun to the back of her head. The man seemed to be around six feet and Ray could tell by the way he moved that it was indeed a man. His face was covered so Ray couldn't make out facial features.

Ray pointed her rifle at him.

"I wouldn't do that," said another gunman behind her, this one held Carmen by her hair. "Now drop it."

"I can't do that," Ray replied.

The guy behind her replied, "Really, then how about some persuasion," he said digging the gun deeper into Marie's head.

Ray quickly moved to draw out her 9MM- rifle pointed at one gunman, 9mil pointed at the other.

"Stop!" said a third man who walked in from the front.

Ray's fear turned into a smile. "Shawn is that you?"

The guy raised a lantern and put it on the nearest shelf toward him. He smiled at Ray. She lowered her weapons and ran to him. Hugging him tightly and then doing something Carmen or Marie had not seen coming: she kissed him. And what was meant to be a simple kiss turned deeper, fuller.

One of Shawn's men had to clear his throat. "Commander, what do we do with the prisoners?"

Before Shawn could speak up the gunman holding Carmen let go of her. The man holding Marie got angry.

"I didn't say to free her Lieutenant."

"It's fine," Shawn replied. "Let her go." He may have been a younger rank than the other but that didn't matter at this point.

The gunman handed Carmen the the weapon he confiscated from her. "It's Ray you idiot," he said to the other in back. "Let her go and give her the gun back."

The gunman though hesitant did as he was told.

Shawn held Ray close, not wanting to let go.

"Let me guess," Ray said looking at the guy next to Carmen. "Dylan."

Dylan took of his mask and smiled at Ray. "It's me alright. Hey Ray."

"Hold up a sec," said Marie raising a hand. "What the hell is going on?"

"Yeah," said Carmen. "And since when do you make kissy-face with random guys? The last I remembered you were always shy around guys in general."

Ray looked at Shawn and placed a hand on his chest. "Well that's because my guy was never at our school. He was always right here."

Shawn smiled back.

"And we never knew about it," Carmen said sounding shocked.

"What can I say," Ray said still looking at Shawn. "I'm good at keeping secrets."

"So let me get this straight, you know these guys?" Marie asked.

"Yeah," replied Ray. "This is Shawn Sharpe and his younger brother Dylan."

"What about the tall, scary guy behind me," Marie asked still nervous of being near him but too afraid to move even if they were friendlies.

Ray looked at Shawn who looked at the guy. He nodded. The tall guy lowered his mask down to his neck.

"Logan," Ray said sounding surprised. "I'm sorry I didn't know," feeling guilty for not recognizing his voice.

"Don't worry about it," Logan said speaking.

Ray wasn't sure but she knew something had to have happened to him. His voice was not what she remembered it to be. It was deeper than it had been.

Ray put aside her shock. "Guys this is Logan, Shawn and Logan's older brother."

"Guys these are my friends Carmen and Marie."

The boys nodded. "So what are you doing here?" Dylan asked.

Before another word could be said there was a sound quite similar to grinding metal.

"Mechanicals," Logan said softly. "Two, maybe three."

"Alright," said Shawn. "It's time to high tail it." He looked at Ray and then scanned the girls quickly before focusing on her. "You any good with that thing," he asked pointing toward her rifle.

"Are you," she said pointing toward his. "Last time I checked you weren't a hunter."

Shawn smiled. "Neither were you. Come on."


	6. Chapter 5 Safety in Numbers

**5.) Safety in Numbers**

* * *

_I knew something was wrong when we didn't go in the direction of my house. It seemed the most logical since it was right nearby. Instead Shawn led us in the opposite direction. And the way Shawn was, pushing me harder and forcing me to look away, something had to be wrong. I wanted to just escape, to go see for myself but the fact that my friends and I were no longer alone, I felt I owed it to Shawn and his brothers to go with him even if it meant putting my own wants aside._

_We did our best to stay out of sight. A monolith, though erected in the city of Denver, Colorado could still be seen from our location which meant that stabs and cyborgs were likely in the area._

_We walked several miles until we came across a gated cul-de-sac of five houses with what used to be a golf course behind them. Though the gate was intact many cars and cement sidewalks had been used to create a better and somewhat higher barricade._

* * *

"You live here," Ray asked dumbfounded.

Shawn smiled. "Beats the dorms at UC doesn't it? Come on we'll show you inside."

Dylan took the lead followed by Carmen and Marie. Shawn stayed close to Ray while Logan took the back. Ray had always passed by these golf houses but had never been inside them. They were mansions and though there were some tattered parts in this particular one, a red bricked house that resembled a cottage in the woods only much larger, it wasn't as bad as to the way it was outside.

"How are the troops Ensign," Shawn asked the young Hispanic kid at the entrance.

"Thanks for not leaving me on babysitting duty but guard duty instead," he said eyeing the newcomers.

"I'll show them to their quarters if that's okay Captain," Dylan said to Logan.

"Sure thing, Lieutenant," Logan replied.

He eyed Shawn and nodded. "Commander."

"A bit formal isn't he," Ray asked as soon as Logan dispersed elsewhere.

Shawn took her hand. "Just keeping order. We kind of need it around here."

The two made their walk up two flights of stairs to the third for and talked as they walked. "So how many of you are there?"

"Twelve. Well fifteen now that you're here. There's Miguel who you just met downstairs. He's only thirteen but very mature for his age. We found his younger sister about to be taken by the greens." Ray didn't ask what he meant it was fairly obvious. "Killed the green on site and took Inez out of there. She's eight. There are the twins Jethro and Jedediah who are also eight and I'm sure you'll meet the others."

The two walked down a long hallway and at the end Shawn opened up a room.

"There's nine rooms in this house: Three at the third floor, three on the second, two on the first and an extra room in the basement."

"The owner paid no expense did he?"

"He shouldn't. He owned the golf course."

"You're kidding?"

"Wish I was."

"Any sign of him?"

"None and no one has returned. I occupy the room in the basement. All of the girls share a room. Riley doesn't like to leave the younger ones alone. Benson is in charge of three other boys so they share a room on the second floor. Logan has the last lot."

"You're really structured here and in such a short amount of time. I'm impressed."

"You're not?"

Ray walked over to the window. There was nothing to see from this area. It was pitch black.

"Not really. I mean the girls call me 'chief' and they take orders from me but I still don't see myself as their leader. I was just trying to survive."

Shawn looked down. "Aren't we all?"

Ray moved over and took a seat on the bed. "Shawn, what did happen to Logan?"

Shawn sighed and took a seat next to Ray. He took her hand and looked at it, flipping it back and forth.

"It happened a few days after the invasion. Benson Reid was the only one with us. Logan and our parents went out to scout some local pharmacies and hospitals. It was before we found this place. Anything really, medical equipment, bedding, food, stuff like that. When they got to the pharmacy near the hospital it was crawling with greens. They spotted them and within a second the mechanicals arrived. Mom was killed on site. They couldn't bring her body so dad and Logan began running hoping they could find shelter at the hospital. They barely made it. Dr. Bradley had been staying hidden there. He came out guns blazing. Dad and Logan managed to get inside but Logan had all ready been hit. Mechanical got him right in the throat. Thankfully they were able to do the surgery right there and it's taken over a week of recovery but he's better aside from the damage it did to his vocals."

"And you're dad and Dr. Bradley?"

Shawn shook his head. "They left us a week ago. With all the kids we were starting to take in, and it was only half the amount we have now, they considered us a liability. Figured they were better off surviving if they were few. Dad told us to go with them. He was even going to take Dylan but Logan said the three of should stay together and that Logan would not abandon his new family. Seeing that dad couldn't talk Logan out of the decision he left."

Ray touched Shawn's hand and moved up till she was caressing his face. "I'm sorry."

Shawn leaned into her hand and closed his eyes. "It doesn't matter. Besides," he said opening them and looking at her. "You're here now. I was so afraid for you."

"Right back at you," Ray smiling, "Commander," she said using the term she had heard him by.


	7. Chapter 6 Porter

**6.) Porter**

* * *

_For months all we did was survive. _

_Early on Logan's unit had deemed themselves 9th Bronco Company Springs Division. _

_My friends and I had grown attached to Logan's company. Though their father, Dr. Jon Sharpe and his co-worker Dr. Andrew Bradley had abandoned them, this group of young people had grown closer to each other than they had been with their own parents, even closer than what extended families were said to have been. _

_Early on Dylan had asked us what my friends and I called ourselves. Given that there were only three of us we hadn't really designated a real term, always joking that we were a pack of three wolves._

_Dylan had thought that was cool and so he bequeathed us the title 3rd Lobo Squadron Big Bend Sector. Shawn liked it and even Logan approved. Though given I was the chief of my little wolf pack and didn't need Logan's permission it was nice to have it. Growing up as I had with Shawn I had always looked up to Logan as if he were my own brother. I was an only child so it was always nice to have Logan around and Dylan too later on._

_During the time that followed I made good on my promise to look for Carmen and Marie's families. We found Carmen's family at a local food store, their bodies slowly rotting away, her parents, her two sisters and an older brother. We buried the bodies that day._

_Marie wasn't so fortunate in that her parents could not be found. With so much rubble and debris and thousands of places to look we had to abandon that mission._

_My own parents were gone. I knew it the second the invasion happened. It was like that feeling a mother gets when their child gets hurt. My parents were in the living room of our house watching tv. I couldn't look at their bodies. One quick glance and I had seen their bodies still sitting there charred; my dad's hand in my mom's. Shawn, Glen and Riley did the burials for me. The only comfort to me was that they had gone together._

_It wasn't until a few days ago that we got a visit that would forever change things._

* * *

Shawn and Ray did room checks as they normally did this time of night. It had become a ritual for them.

In the girl's room Riley was trying to get five year old Ellie to sleep. Beth and Inez were completely out. Miguel, Dylan, and Marie were on watch tonight. Benson, only twenty two years old but a lieutenant and 9th Bronco Company's field medic was in the ex-home owners' office with Logan leaving Glen in charge of the twins Jethro and Jedediah.

The two, Shawn and Ray, made their way downstairs to the office. Logan looked up.

"The troops sound asleep."

"Just about sir," Shawn replied.

Logan placed a hand on the desk. "Let me guess, Ellie."

"Yes sir."

"Five year old, guess I can't blame her. Hell we all miss our families but out of all of us she's the one who doesn't truly understand. It's fine, I'm sure Riley will find a way to put her to sleep. She always does."

Ray couldn't help but notice the small smile that formed at the edge of his lip when he said her name. Before much more could be said there was a knock on the door.

"What is it Cordova," Logan and Ray said simultaneously.

Logan looked over and nodded at Ray. She took point.

"What is it?"

"Sorry to interrupt but Chief, Captain, you'd better come have a look at this."

The three of them walked outside. Miguel and Dylan had their weapons pointed at the incoming intruders. Marie took her place and did the same.

"Easy there," said Colonel Jim Porter holding up a white t-shirt on a stick.

Logan raised his gun. "That's far enough."

The Colonel simply nodded and stayed put. "I'm Colonel Jim Porter, commanding officer of the Massachusetts militia and 1st Continental Army. Can I ask who's in charge here?"

Logan looked to Shawn and then to Ray. He nodded to her and then turned to Porter. "We both are. Did you say Massachusetts?"

"I did son."

"You're a long way off."

"We've been out scouting, searching for militias such as yours."

Logan couldn't help but laugh, "What for to pull a 'rise against the machines' scenario?"

"Basically, yes," Porter said being serious.

"We're just trying to survive here," Ray said speaking out for the first time.

"I understand that," replied Porter, "as is everyone else we've encountered but if we're ever going to get our planet back, we can't do it when we're separated and vulnerable."

* * *

"Alright," said Logan after staring at Porter for a bit. "Come inside. We can discuss things in there so we're not out in the open. Mind leaving some of your fighters out here? My trio could use the extra fire power."

"Not a problem," replied Porter.

Porter issued some orders before following the three leaders, two men at his back. They went into Logan's office and Shawn closed the door.

"What's going on?" Benson asked.

Logan moved his hand and directed it to Porter. "Lieutenant Reid meet Colonel Porter of the Massachusetts militia and 1st Continental Army. Colonel, this is Benson Reid, not only one of our lieutenants but field medic as well."

"Kind of young to be a field medic," Porter answered.

"We'll we've all got to step up sir," Benson said resenting his tone. "Not all of us can be psycho wielding gun experts. Besides, someone has to put humpty dumpty together again."

Logan snapped at Benson. "Shut it Lieutenant!"

"Yes sir."

"Now," Porter said looking at Logan who was behind the desk, Shawn and Ray to his left, with Ray at the far end. "Can I ask who I'm dealing with here?"

"Captain Logan Sharpe," Logan answered, "of 9th Bronco Company Springs Division. To my left is Shawn Sharpe my younger brother and Commander of 9th Bronco Company."

He nodded toward Ray, letting her do her introduction.

"Chief Ray Cortes, 3rd Lobo Squadron Big Bend Sector."

"Big Bend," said Porter. "Texas."

"Yes sir," Ray replied.

"Big state," Porter said contemplating. "We passed through there, not much left. You're the first survivor we've come across whose from that region."

"It's not just me sir. I came with two others."

"Still, that's impressive, you three being the only survivors from that state."

"No sir, just lucky I suppose."

"Are you the oldest," Porter asked Logan.

"Yes sir," Logan replied.

Ray looked over to Benson. "Lieutenant go wake up Villas. Have her get some drinks for our guests."

"Yes ma'am," Benson replied.

"And Lieutenant, how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me 'ma'am'?"

"Sorry Chief."

Benson left the room.

"No adults," Porter asked continuing on with his questions.

"None that can be trusted," Logan said.

* * *

_I could see in his eyes the deep hatred he had for his father for abandoning him. Jon Sharpe had always been an excellent father. He had been one of the top surgeons there at Hope Springs hospital, with his wife a surgeon nurse, and Andrew Bradley by his side. He had never once raised a hand to his boys and despite the time he spent away from them at the hospital he always made the best of the time off._

_It was still weird, after all these months to think of Jon Sharpe as someone who would abandon his kids just to save his own skin but then again the whole invasion had changed everyone. No one was who they were before even though some tried to be._

* * *

"We'll hear you out," Logan said to Porter, "but whatever gets decided is between Bronco Company and Lobo Squadron."

"That's all we ask."

Carmen came in with drinks and handed them around. Ray waved her off once she was done.

Logan motioned for Porter to take a seat at one of the chairs in front of Logan's desk. Shawn and Ray took their seats near Logan.

"This war isn't going anywhere," Porter began. "We have little militia groups scattered across the world and we've been on a search to recruit those militias."

"Where are you sending them," Ray spoke up. "The ones who choose to go I mean."

"Currently we've got two bases of operations. One of them is in Charleston, South Carolina. It's being run by a man named Arthur Manchester. The other is more of a nomad group but they've developed a temporary home for the time being in Boston, Massachusetts, they're called the 2nd Mass. Captain Don Weaver runs that outfit along with his second in command Tom Mason.

It's time we start going on the offensive. The more man power we have the better."

"Or they slaughter us all on site," Shawn said.

Porter ignored the commander's comment. "We need to strike them hard and strike them where it hurts."

"You really think we can beat them," Ray asked sounding skeptical.

"With the right numbers and the right attitude I do. It's time we stop hiding and start defending what is rightfully ours."

"Colonel," said Ray. "Even if we were to decide to go with you it's not that easy. Boston is _ miles away and we've got our kids to think about, the youngest being only five years old. Do you really think a child can make that journey?"

Porter smiled. "Never underestimate the resilience of a child. I've traveled with, and the 2nd Mass., has traveled with a much more variety of people from older to young ones to even some who were pregnant. The journey can be made I assure you."

"But at what cost," Logan said fear creeping in his voice, afraid to lose any of his family members.

"Unfortunately Captain," said Porter, "that's a cross we all have to bear but the greater cross is holding out alone. At least in Boston or Charleston you wouldn't be alone and you wouldn't have to bear it alone."

Porter rose as did the others.

"At least think about it. If you're considering Boston I would suggest you don't wait too long. Like I said, they may have a temporary base but the 2nd Mass are a nomadic group. You can choose to go with them or make your way directly to Charleston but we do hope you choose one. It would be unwise to stay here forever as a hold out waiting for something good to happen. No good comes from waiting, sometimes you have to stretch your legs and fight back."

Logan stuck out his hand. "Thank you Colonel."

Porter shook it. "Appreciate your time Captain."

Porter then commenced to shaking Shawn's hand and Ray's.

"Be safe out there Colonel," Ray said to him.

"You too Chief."

With Porter and his men gone the three leaders all looked at each other. Neither one wanting to speak up. They knew their lives had just changed no matter what direction they took.

"So what do we do," Ray being the first to speak up.


	8. Chapter 7 Boston or Charleston?

**7. Boston or Charleston?**

A large map was spread out on Logan's desk. The four of them looked at it.

"Its 2,069 miles to Boston," said Shawn.

"And 1,677 if we go to Charleston," replied Ray.

"An average of less than 300 miles if we decide to go there," said Shawn.

"Hold on," said Logan. "No one's going anywhere. We're just keeping our options open that's all."

"This isn't just about us, Logan," Ray said. "We have to think about what's best for the kids."

"Don't you think that's what I've been doing? I've been thinking about that since before you even got here, don't forget that!"

"Dude," said Shawn. "Low blow."

"Little brother I get that she's your girlfriend but I have to think of the company as a whole not just her and her pack of wolves."

"And I have to think of mine," Ray said making reference to Carmen and Marie. "Think hard about this Captain, maybe Porter is right. What good is it by us just staying here? We can't just sit back and wait. Sooner or later our provisions will run out and when that happens then what? Our kids will be too sick and weak to go anywhere and then you've screwed yourself even more so than you were before."

"I would rather stay here safe as a family than risk going out there is that such a bad thing that I want to keep us alive?"

"No it's not a bad thing Logan. In fact I'd admire that if the world was the same one we lived in before this happened. Trying to live in the world we once knew, in this world, is the equivalent to living in fear.

We can't teach these kids anymore. We're not school teachers. Some of us are just college students with an education that is meaningless at this point. At least in Boston or Charleston we'd have a better chance of being with people who can educate our kids the way we can't."

"That's exactly why it's a bad idea," said Logan.

Ray bit her lip, nodded and let out a small smile. "So that's what this is about. You don't want to go because there will be other adults around."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You know exactly what I mean. I saw how you were with Colonel Porter. You couldn't wait for him to stop talking and leave because you hate the idea of having to be around other adults and when he finally did leave you felt betrayed because that's what adults do right? They make everything fine and safe and then they bolt."

"You don't get to speak to me in that way do I make myself clear," said Logan.

"No sir, let me make something clear. I am the leader of the 3rd Lobo Squadron, their Chief. You don't get to order me around the way you do with your brothers and the others who serve under you."

"Let's say we go, for arguments sake," said Logan. "What if some of them can't make the journey. Ellie is only five fucking years old! I would rather we stay alive than risk our lives for some garden of Eden that may not even exist."

"At lead we'd be risking our lives for something rather than passively sitting by."

"You guys," said Shawn. "I think we should try to tone things down."

"Passively, you think that's what I'm doing?" Logan asked ignoring Shawn.

"I know that you are. I can see that you're afraid, Logan. What happened to the guy I used to know who used to be fearless? A few cyborg bullets to your throat, a few abandonment issues and now you bow down and cower. What happened to the guy that I used to look up to as my older brother?"

Ray began walking toward the door and opened it. "I don't know what you'll decide Logan but I've decided. I'm going to Boston. I know it's a little out of the way but I'd rather put my trust in this Captain Weaver. In history class I had to read a book by Manchester. Good book but didn't trust the author. I'll take my chances in Boston. My pack and I leave in 3 days."

Ray closed the door behind her. In the office the three young men looked at each other; Logan pounding his fist on the desk.

"What happened to the girl who was always too shy to speak?" Logan asked.

"I'll go talk to her," Shawn said leaving the office.

* * *

"Hey," Shawn said grabbing Ray and spinning her around so she could face him when the two of them were inside Shawn's room in the basement. "What the hell was that all about?"

"We can't stay here Shawn. We've been here for months and each time the stabs and cyborgs keep getting closer. If we stay here any longer they'll be right on top of us."

"I know," Shawn said looking down, "But it's Logan, I can't just-," he said not being able to finish his sentence.

Ray placed a hand on Shawn's arm. "I know. I'm not asking you to choose."

Shawn looked up and sadly smiled. "Yes you are. By deciding to leave you're forcing my hand. I love you Ray, you know that."

"But Logan's your brother. Shawn believe me, I understand. It's okay really." Ray got closer to him. "I love you and I want you to come with me but that would be selfish. I can't have you choose between me and your family so consider yourself off the hook. It was fun while it lasted right?"

"Right," Shawn said. He looked into her eyes and unable to control himself he forced himself to kiss her hard. "No one's coming down," he said in catching his breath. "What's one night?"

"One night," Ray repeated.

* * *

_The next couple of days were spent getting organized. Logan had gathered his company in the living room and had a meeting with them. Carmen and Marie sat in on it. I was focused on the being the lone wolf, getting ready for the journey making sure my bike and gathering a few extra provisions, going on solo missions that I deemed necessary. _

_I was determined to go even if it meant making the three thousand mile journey alone. _

_In the time I had spent with Shawn and his brothers and their division I couldn't have been more happy but with Colonel Porter's arrival I couldn't help but think that I was missing out on what the outside world was about. _

_I had been content on just surviving. I had never had anything to live for outside of myself even if I was a leader to my own squad and to Logan's company. With Porter's talk about there being other outfits out in the world I couldn't help but want to be a part of that which was a new thing all together since in this life and my one before it I had always been content at being alone, away in the shadows instead of in the spotlight._

* * *

On the third day I was set for my journey when things changed once again.

"We're really leaving," Marie asked.

"I've told you," said Ray, "you and Carmen don't have to come," she answered as she saw Carmen and Marie fixing up their own bikes. "You guys are free to stay and play house as long as you want."

"Bikes, really," Ray heard Logan's voice behind her. He was leaning against the door casually. "I'm pretty sure that won't be enough room for all of us."

Ray half smiled. "You're serious?"

Shawn smiled behind him and came outside wrapping his arms around her waist. "He's very serious and I swear I didn't change his mind."

"What transport did you have in mind?"

"Come out back."

Everyone followed Logan to the backyard. He reached for some tarps and took them off what it was they were covering.

Ray and her squadron were shocked.

"Hummers? How did you even get these?"

"You'd be surprised at how easy it is to steal them at an air base when there's no one around to safe guard them. They were always my little project, well mine and dads. He always thought it would be a good idea in case we ever needed a way out. Guess we do now. They're stocked and fully loaded. We'll be living on MRE's for a while but any food is better than no food at all. And I even did some work on the back so we can attach a bike each."

Logan looked back at his unit. "Alright," he said. "Let's go, load up." He reached for some keys and tossed them to Shawn. "Black one is yours little brother."

As Logan got in the driver's seat of the desert sand colored hummer he reached under his seat and tossed a book to Ray. "The book is good," he said, "but I agree about Manchester not being able to be trusted. The guy's a prick." He smiled and started up the car.

Ray smiled. "Lobo Squadron, load up."

* * *

_I took the passenger side next to Shawn. There were seven people to one hummer and eight to another. Carmen, Marie, Riley, Glen, Ellie, and Beth in the black hummer. Logan, Benson, Dylan, Miguel, Inez, Jet, and Jed in the other._

_Over three thousand miles but anything was better than not trying at all._


	9. Chapter 8 2,069

**8. 2,069**

* * *

_Maybe it was a fool's errand and maybe I was the fool I don't know. It seemed to me that no matter what happened death was always sure to follow. In our old world death was always imminent but now it seemed as if those odds of dying had doubled or even quadrupled. There was no trusting in that we would wake up to see another day anymore._

_Perhaps it was for that reason alone that I felt compelled to make the decision to head to Boston. Either we stayed and died in Colorado or we moved and died fighting for our lives. _

_Of course being on the road wasn't going to be easy. We had each other and we had the provisions we needed but that didn't mean life was going to give us an easy path to travel. It never did._

_All time ceased to matter. When the sun went down it went down, when the sun rose it rose. The days folded over, one on top of another. All that mattered was survival and reaching our destination._

* * *

"In coming mechanical and greens," Glen Keith said coming over to Ray. They were positioned hidden inside a Target god only knew where.

Logan had assigned Ray a tactical unit which included Glen, Benson Reid, and Carmen Villas.

The second unit consisted of Shawn, Dylan, Miguel Rios, Beth Morgan and Marie Cordova.

Riley Keith had been in charge of the children who included Inez Rios, Jed and Jet Thomas and Ellie Gardner, who were safe in the hidden hummer units.

This had been a layover of sorts to gather more supplies.

"How far out," Ray asked.

"About 2 klick's to the south."

Ray looked at their small cache. "All right, here's what we're going to do. Carmen and Benson take what we need back to our location. Take the back exit. Glen go with them and provide cover fire if you have to."

The three of them looked at Ray, worried.

"What are you going to do," Glen asked.

Ray smiled. "What I've become expertly good at apparently."

Carmen shook her head, "No way, I'm not leaving you here alone."

"Well it's a good thing I'm ordering you now isn't it," said Ray. "Now the three of you, go!"

They did as they were told. Ray checked her weapons, a rifle and two smaller nine mils. She had several mags for each. She even got a baseball bat which she found in the store. Ray then moved closer to the door so she could get a better view.

* * *

The wait seemed to take forever but alas they were in sight.

Two stabs were side by side with a cyborg about three yards behind, scouts more likely. Ray knew that she would have to use herself as a distraction to deter them from continuing in their present direction. She looked around for anything she could use. There was a piece of metal that had once belonged to a shelf. It was of a descent size and looked like a stick she could throw. Picking the piece up and holding it in her hand she readied herself. Ray was not the best thrower in fact it had been one of the many things she sucked at. Still there were no other options.

Ray looked at it one more time. "Go fetch you sons of bitches," she said tossing the metal stick out of the broken glass. It landed right over the cyborg, who started firing at the disruption.

Ray smiled. With the aliens distracted she began firing from her location. The cyborg reeled around and began firing. Ray ducked for cover. The stabs got closer. She fired until one of them fell down. Her rifle was empty and there was no time to reload with the second stab getting closer and the cyborg firing all around her. She reached for the 9mil.

The stab was now on top of Ray pushing her to the ground. Ray fired a few times at what was closest to her which was one of its arms. The stab shrieked in agony. She then fired a few times at the back leg. The stab fell right on top of her.

'Okay bad move,' Ray said in her mind. The son of a bitch was heavier than she thought.

The stab was furious now as could be heard from its cries. Ray tossed her 9mil aside, it being out of ammo and picked up the baseball bat. She slammed it with all her strength into its side.

The cyborg was getting closer as could be heard by his footsteps. Ray had only minutes to end this before she was ended herself.

She placed the bat between her stomach and the stab who was ferociously trying to bite at her face. A strong thrust upward and the stab lost its breath moving enough to the point where Ray was now able to maneuver from under it. She turned over and was now on top of it the way a cowboy would saddle up and ride a menacing bull. It wasn't the easiest ride since two of its limbs were shot to hell but it would have to do. There was no easy way to grip at the stabs head. It wasn't like you could do with a human by getting him or her by the hair and then slamming it to the floor.

This wasn't working. And then an idea.

A second into her thought Ray moved back to her position under the stab just as the cyborg began firing. The firing ceased though when Ray heard back up. She couldn't focus on that now, whoever had disobeyed her orders would have to be dealt with later.

"Miss me," she said to the stab.

The stab shrieked as if he somehow understood.

Ray smiled as she saw what she was aiming for. There was a type of opening in the stabs jugular region. Ray thrust her hand inside twisting at whatever she could find. The stab shrieked even louder. Ray moved her hand more until she found something string like. She yanked at it hard. When her hand came out it was full of blood and the stab was dead.

She crawled out from under it.

She took the two weapons she had discarded, quickly reloaded, got the bat and walked outside. The cyborg still wasn't going down. Those things just couldn't be killed it seemed.

* * *

Ray saw that Glen had been the one to come back. He had taken cover behind a car so Ray quickly ducked over to it as the cyborg saw and fired upon her.

"I thought I ordered you to go with the others."

"They're safe don't worry," Glen replied. "Dylan heard the gun fire and took over. I figured you could use the backup."

"I guess I should be pissed but,"

"But you were nearly getting your ass kicked by the green," Glen said with a smile.

"Thanks for coming back."

"No problem chief. Now what do we do about this situation. Damn thing won't fucking die."

"I was thinking about that, fire directly at its guns. We do that we might be able to damage them enough to break some circuits. If I can do that then you can maybe move around it to club him."

"A bit Neanderthal-ish don't you think?"

"We're out of options here," Ray said handing the bat to him.

"Alright. Good luck chief," Glen said taking the bat in one hand, his gun in the other. He backed away as silently as he could.

Ray took a quick look at the cyborg. Its guns were off but it was a matter of minutes or seconds before it began firing. Ray took a deep breath and came out from her spot and began firing. The cyborg was quick to return fire. Ray ducked.

This plan wasn't going to be as easy as she imagined but when did things ever go to plan.

Ray popped out again but the cyborg was ready. Its targeting beam was pointed directly at Ray and within a second it fired. Ray closed her eyes as she ducked. When she opened them she was surprised to see that she was still alive. The cyborgs footsteps started to get further away which made no sense.

Ray peeked over and understood the reason.

She ran over and looked down at Glen. She then looked at the cyborg that was retreating. She wanted desperately to go after him but that would have to be a battle for another day.

She got on her knees and placed his head in her lap.

"You idiot," she said to him. "What did you do that for?"

"You would've done the same chief."

"I would have which is why you should've let me take the hit."

Glen shook his head. "No chief, Bronco Company needs you."

"I won't live long enough. Your sister is going to kill me."

"Just tell her it was my fault." Ray couldn't help smile as the tears flowed. "Keep going Chief. Don't look back."

Ray tapped Glen's shoulder. "You did good son."

* * *

_With one final smile Glen was gone. I sat and wept for a while but then composed myself enough to pick up his body. It wasn't easy, being a girl and holding onto a young fourteen year old but this had become my burden to bear in the same way Jesus had to carry a cross that was more than his own weight or so the story went. And okay so maybe comparing myself to some kind of spiritual figure was a bad idea but there was no other way to describe the weight I now carried both physical and mental._

_In my time of survival I had now reached a point where I lost one of my friends, my soldiers. Our company was small so death was that much harder._

* * *

Ray arrived back to the car garage that the company was using as their hide out. Sweat, grime, and blood covered her as she held Glen. Logan and Shawn were the first to come out of the office door. Riley, Keith's older sister looked on from the second floor which had once held a bunch of tires. She and the kids were up there now. Riley came rushing down the stairs as Logan took Glen's body from Ray.

Before Ray could fall to her knees Shawn caught her. The two sat on some old tires that were inside the car garage part.

"What happened," Shawn asked.

"He saved me," Ray said. "He saved me big time. Not once but twice. I nearly got over run by the two stabs. Managed to kill one but the second I got involved in hand to hand combat. The cyborg was nearly over powering me but Glen came back and diverted its fire. When I was done Glen and I were still having a hard time taking down the cyborg. It locked on me but Glen took the fire instead."

Ray looked up at Riley. She knew she should stop her tears but she couldn't. This was the first time she had seen anyone die on her watch. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I failed you."

Riley had no words.

"Boys," Logan said snapping at Dylan and Miguel.

"Yes sir," they both said in unison.

"Get a hole dug. We need to get his burial under way."

The boys said nothing instead going over to a patch of green grass a few yards from the car garage. It wasn't much of an area, just one of those small plots that companies had to make their place look nice. Still it was a descent place with fertile soil and big enough to place Glen's body.

At the first light of dawn we all rose and walked over to the makeshift grave. Shawn and Logan placed the wrapped body inside.

Ray stood at the end of it. The group was looking to her to speak.

Ray stayed silent before taking a deep breath. "In a normal military funeral there would be a twenty one gun salute and a flag would be wrapped over the casket, another given to the surviving family members. Unfortunately those things are not at our disposal. Words can offer us little comfort but I say them anyways. Before all this I was never good at anything, I was never a good speaker either. Times change, situations change us.

You all were fortunate to know Glen a bit longer than myself and the others of Lobo Squadron but in the time I did know him Glen was always a joker. He was a kid like many of us who got caught in a situation that was beyond him but like many of us he thrived. He took a bad situation and made it better. He made us laugh. Glen became a brother not just in arms but in family, he became a son to me despite the short age difference.

You saved my skin Glen and I will never forget that. So take your rest young son, you've earned it and we'll keep going like you said we should."

Ray looked up at Riley who simply nodded. She then reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt, placing it on the body. Turn by turn the others did the same. It was Shawn, Logan, and Ray who filled the rest till there was nothing but a dirt mound.

* * *

_I wish I could say that the rest of the trek was smooth sailing but it wasn't. In fact it was far from it. Glen Keith wouldn't be the only one of our brothers we would lose. Each loss hurt as bad as the previous: Glen, Miguel, Beth and but the three hardest to lose were Ellie Gardner, Dylan Sharpe and Carmen Villas: Carmen because we had been friends since those ancient high school years. Ellie and Dylan however, hadn't been lost to death, at least not entirely and not at first but to the stabs. _

_On one of the many patrols along the way the stabs managed to get their hands on them and instead of killing Dylan and Ellie what happened was much worse. They became leeched. That's what we called them anyways, the harnesses. We called them leeches because once they grabbed hold they couldn't be taken off._

_We managed to get Ellie back but Benson's removal method, our method, proved unsuccessful. Benson had used an old kitchen knife to cut through the attachments but they were rooted so deep that the knife did little and so he came up with a back up method: remove part of the leech just enough to get under it and then fire at the attachment. This too proved a failure._

_With our failures on Ellie there was no good way of rescuing Dylan without his death. A part of me wondered if he was better off with the stabs because at least he was alive in some form. I never voiced this opinion to Shawn or Logan. They were taking the news too hard, both Dylan being leeched and Ellie's ineffective surgery._

_Our company did eventually make it to Boston, our chosen residence. With white flag in hand I made my way in front of our humvees, making myself known and out in the open to the 2nd Mass. _

_The first chapter of our lives was over having found sanctuary. What lie ahead was the unknown._


	10. epilogue With the 2nd Mass

**Epilogue. With the 2nd Mass**

"You've been through a lot," Dr. Anne Glass said to me.

"Who hasn't?"

I got up and walked over to the window. The 2nd Mass had been here at John F. Kennedy Elementary School four months before my unit arrived. They had welcomed us in and now I sat talking with Dr. Glass as I usually did every day at this time. She was a pediatrician but she was also a great listener.

"What's going on in that head of yours Ray?" she asked looking at me.

"Why do we continue to do this: This therapy session? I confided in you once and now it's become a ritual."

"Do you wish we didn't?"

"Maybe I don't know. I mean why should any of this even matter? More than half of the world is gone so why should I care about my problems. Why should you? I don't know why I'm being ridiculous."

"Maybe it should matter because of the fact that there's only 20% of the population. The fewer people there are the easier it is to make people care."

"I guess. After the invasion I just thought I was done with therapy. I changed so completely that I thought that part of my life had died with the rest of it."

"Well try not to think of this as a therapy session. Sometimes we all need is someone to talk to even if it's not within our own people. You never talked to anyone before me, outside of your group I mean."

"Not about things this deep no."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm their leader. Even Shawn and his unit look to me. I can't appear to be weak and I can't tell them all the stuff that's in my head or what I write in my journals or the things I tell you because then they'll start to see my like…"

"Like what?"

I stayed silent for a moment. There was no way I could voice my fear now but she had to know. Since our arrival Anne had taken me in much in the same way she had done with Lourdes even if my job was different, even if I was a soldier, a term I never used to describe myself until now.

I lowered my head. "Like I was before."

"Because of your depression. When did that start?"

"Do I have to go into that part of my life?"

"You don't have to but sometimes the scars of our past can still have a hold over us even if we don't want them to."

I looked down at my chest and then diverted my gaze to my arm.

"It started when I was twelve. I had just moved schools so I didn't know how to deal with it. I felt under a lot of pressure so I internalized but it just got worse. Got put on medication in college because that's when things…escalated."

"Escalated how?"

I looked to make sure the door in the front was closed. Then I moved behind some counters and turned my back toward Anne.

"I don't want to show you over there."

"Okay."

It was easy to hear Anne walk over towards me. Not looking at her because I knew I wouldn't be able to do it, I began to take off the leather jacket I had been wearing one of the many things I had found along the journey though this one held significance because it was mine, it had been in my car that had been flipped over back in Alpine. That seemed like ages ago.

I took off the layers of shirts I had on till finally I came to the last one, a white long sleeve which had always been my attire before I put on any t-shirts and the like. I took that one off as well revealing, aside from a descent pair of abs that I had developed over the course of the invasion and the bra I had strapped on, scars that ran along my right arm and scars that ran in every direction along the top of my chest.

Anne paused for a moment. She came closer and gently touched the ones on my arm.

"My old therapist knew but Shawn's the only person to ever see them and it's not because we…it's because he's the only person I can trust." I looked up at Anne who was still examining my scars. She didn't look at all freaked out the way I was expecting. I don't know maybe it was because she was pediatrician. Maybe in her past life she had seen young adults with scars that were a result of self injuries.

"And now you," I said as I shook my head. "Kind of stupid right, at the time my depression and the cutting was my only focus but now it seems completely irrelevant and meaningless."

Anne looked at me, "No," she said. And I couldn't help but look back. "It's not stupid. Whatever pain you felt was real. We all carry a piece of our old lives with us and that's okay. We wouldn't want to erase it completely."

"I guess not, at least when it comes to the people we care about." I began putting my clothes back on. "but when it's stuff like this," I said raising up my arm. "You can't help but want to erase it but you can't."

"Let me ask you then, why didn't you get rid of them before I mean. There were scar solutions on the shelves; you could've gone to a dermatologist, laser treatments. There were all kinds of options."

I froze. Constantly I had considered it. I even had some scar solutions back in my dorm but I never used them. Part of it was to put my parents' minds at ease the other was just always as a backup option in case I decided to get rid of them.

I walked back to the window. It seemed the only place I felt truly safe. Something I had done since I was a kid.

"I never could," I finally admitted. "Every time I held the cylindrical container with the scar solution I would look at the scars and I just couldn't. I hate them deeply but at the same time I can't bring myself to get rid of them. And I know I talk about wanting to erase the past so it doesn't make sense why I can't bring myself to erase these."

"They're apart of who you are, just like your memories."

I looked up at Anne knowing she was right.

* * *

Before any more could be said there was a knock at the door and Hal Mason entered.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said. He looked at me directly even though Anne was in the same line of sight. "Weaver and Sharpe need you."

I went over to the counter and picked up my rifle and jacket then looked to Anne. "Um, thanks for this."

"I'm here if you need me, you know that right?"

I simply nodded and followed Hal to the hallway.

"Which Sharpe," I asked. "Logan."

"And Shawn?"

"With the boys: Benson and the J Thomas twins. And Riley is with Inez."

Benson Reid, Jet and Jed Thomas, Riley Keith and Inez Rios: The only members left, next to Shawn and Logan of 9th Bronco Company. Marie Cordova was the only member of mine.

"Shawn said he'd meet up with you when you got back."

"Where from?"

We opened the doors to the main classroom that was used as Captain Weaver's office.

"Captains," I said nodding at him and Logan. "Tom," I said nodding at Hal's father.

They both looked up at me. "Good you're here, Chief," Weaver said to me. "Captain Sharpe bring her up to speed."

"Yes sir," Logan replied.

* * *

_And so that's how it went. Another night. Another mission. Another day in a post apocalyptic world._

_Did it bother me sure it did. This kind of life would bother anyone but like Anne said with a population diminished to only 20% for once I actually mattered. I mattered to my unit and the units around me as a leader and I mattered to these people, even to the 2nd Mass as another human of earth and in the end whether we won this war or lost it that was all that mattered. The invaders could try to make this their home but in the end it was our home and humanity mattered no matter how large or how small it got. Humans would always be here, they couldn't eliminate us completely and that had to count for something. _

**~END~**


	11. special feature character guide

**Character Guide: **In the story I introduced new characters to the world of Falling Skies. 15 in total so I thought it would be helpful to have a list of all the new characters.

_Left to right- Name, age/sex, ranking, status as of end of fic_

_(A= alive; D= dead; M=male; F=female; NR=no rank)_

**3rd Lobo Squadron Big Bend Sector**

1. Ray Cortes, 23/F, Chief- Alive

2. Carmen Villas, 22/F, NR- Dead

3. Marie Cordova, 22/F, NR- Alive

**9th Bronco Company Springs Division**

1. Logan Sharpe, 27/M, Captain- Alive

2. Shawn Sharpe, 23/M, Commander- Alive

3. Dylan Sharpe, 14/M, Lieutenant, harnessed/undetermined

4. Benson Reid, 22/M, Lieutenant/field medic- Alive

5. Riley Keith, 20/F, Lieutenant- Alive

6. Glen Keith, 14/M, NR- Dead

7. Miguel Rios, 13, Ensign- Dead

8. Inez Rios, 8, NR- Alive

9. Beth Morgan, 10, NR- Dead

10. Jethro Thomas, 8, NR- Alive

11. Jedediah Thomas, 8, NR- Alive

12. Ellie Gardner, 5, NR- Dead


End file.
